Syndicating your Content: Article Marketing tips

In the wake of Google’s ongoing algorithm updates, content creators for the Web are waking up to a new reality. Quality content is the only way to win at the article marketing game. And so the demand for article marketing tips, viral marketing strategies and list building tips has gone through the roof. This article will list some of the best ways to enjoy the benefits of directory submissions. For my nursing audience out there, we not only have our knowledge to share, but also some really great stories to tell. One of the great aspects of being on the front lines of healthcare. Although it may seem like fiction, we know it’s not. We’ll actually tell you like it is. So how do we generate some traffic for these great articles we’re writing? Article Marketing of course.

What is article marketing?

The term itself is apparently obvious, yet article marketing can be confusing and misunderstood. It is essentially the process of marketing one’s business or product or service through the writing and distribution of articles. But where some marketers merely focus on the profile linking opportunities that come from submitting articles to various directories, others seek the viral marketing advantage of having your best content syndicated and widely shared with a large audience.

What are the benefits of article marketing?

There are many things a good article marketing strategy can do for your business. Here are some of the benefits of article marketing:

1. You can get more website traffic through having your article listed on various directories where thousands of interested readers browse daily.

2. You will get a back-link to your website from these same article directories, which gives you an advantage in getting higher search engine rankings.

3. Your article may be seen by another content publisher who may wish to share it with a wider audience of prospects, extending your reach and branding you as an expert.

4. Your article can be viewed by website owners who need more content, and may lead to you being hired as a freelance writer or content creator for that site.

With a well constructed article resource box, which is the text at the bottom of your article (and includes some information about the author), you can get all these benefits of article marketing. Maybe you want people to do business with you. Or perhaps you want them to buy products and services you recommend to them as an affiliate. Or your aim may be to inform them about your business while showcasing your expertise in the subject. Article marketing can do all of this very effectively.

How to practice article marketing the right way?

The old style of article marketing no longer works. Gone are the days when you could simply slap together 250 words into a semi-meaningful narrative, and submit it to article directories for a link back to your website, or make a few quick sales of an affiliate product. All that ended with the recent updates that Google made to their ranking algorithm.

Today, article marketing is a more serious content creation venture where your article addresses a specific problem and offers readers a solution. A planned, researched and well written article can be remarkably effective if you apply viral marketing strategies into writing and distributing it.

Here are a few article marketing tips to make sure your article is a winner.

1. Write a great article. Make it informative and useful. Put in sufficient research and background study so that you address a problem and offer a viable solution.

2. Make your article reasonably long enough. A good estimate for an article that will get passed around is between 800 and 1,200 words in length. It is difficult, though not impossible, to convey a set of ideas or make a convincing argument in fewer words.

3. Focus on getting your author resource box correct. You may have to experiment with different versions before finding the one that works best for your needs.

4. Know your audience and target your writing to fit their needs. If you are writing an article primarily to have it published on article directories, you must make sure you follow the rules of those directories.

5. Keep your writing crisp and clear. In their over-crowded daily routines, few readers will have the time or interest to read complex or convoluted writing.

Once you have finished writing the best article you can create, you must do a few more things to get the most from your article marketing.

1. Publish your article on your own website or blog first. This will make sure that you are later credited for being the original creator of the content, a point that becomes important when you later syndicate your work through other channels.

2. Submit your article to as many resources as possible to get it widely viewed by your target audience. Article directories, email newsletters and even offline publications like magazines and newspapers are good avenues of distribution.

3. Think about creative ways to leverage every article you write or have someone create for you. You can convert a written article into an audio recording and use it for a podcast or Internet radio show. You can have it turned into a PDF document for distribution in other channels. You can even make a slide-show or video presentation based upon it, which opens up even wider routes of distribution.

By tapping into the many opportunities made available to article marketing proponents today, you can take advantage of viral marketing strategies and enjoy many benefits of directory submissions at a very modest expense.